Giovanni Battista Cirri (1 October 1724 – 11 June 1808) was an Italian

cellist The cello ( ; plural ''celli'' or ''cellos'') or violoncello ( ; ) is a bowed (sometimes plucked and occasionally hit) string instrument of the violin family. Its four strings are usually tuned in perfect fifths: from low to high, C2, G2, D3 ...

and

composer A composer is a person who writes music. The term is especially used to indicate composers of Western classical music, or those who are composers by occupation. Many composers are, or were, also skilled performers of music. Etymology and Defi ...

in the 18th century.

Biography

Cirri was born in

Forlì Forlì ( , ; rgn, Furlè ; la, Forum Livii) is a ''comune'' (municipality) and city in Emilia-Romagna, Northern Italy, and is the capital of the province of Forlì-Cesena. It is the central city of Romagna. The city is situated along the Via E ...

in the

Emilia-Romagna egl, Emigliàn (man) egl, Emiglièna (woman) rgn, Rumagnòl (man) rgn, Rumagnòla (woman) it, Emiliano (man) it, Emiliana (woman) or it, Romagnolo (man) it, Romagnola (woman) , population_note = , population_blank1_title ...

Region of Italy. He had his first musical training with his brother

Ignazio Ignazio () is a masculine Italian given name. Notable people with the name include: Arts *Ignazio Collino (1736–1793), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Fresu (born 1957), Italian sculptor *Ignazio Gardella (1905–1999), Italian architect and designer ...

(1711–1787) and was for a time organist at

Cathedral A cathedral is a church that contains the '' cathedra'' () of a bishop, thus serving as the central church of a diocese, conference, or episcopate. Churches with the function of "cathedral" are usually specific to those Christian denomination ...

. He also studied with

Giovanni Battista Martini Giovanni Battista or Giambattista Martini, O.F.M. Conv. (24 April 1706 – 3 August 1784), also known as Padre Martini, was an Italian Conventual Franciscan friar, who was a leading musician, composer, and music historian of the period ...

, in

Bologna Bologna (, , ; egl, label= Emilian, Bulåggna ; lat, Bononia) is the capital and largest city of the Emilia-Romagna region in Northern Italy. It is the seventh most populous city in Italy with about 400,000 inhabitants and 150 different nat ...

. In 1739 he was admitted to Holy Orders but decided to pursue a musical career. From 1759 he was a member of the "Accademia Filarmonica". He was in

Paris Paris () is the capital and most populous city of France, with an estimated population of 2,165,423 residents in 2019 in an area of more than 105 km² (41 sq mi), making it the 30th most densely populated city in the world in 2020. S ...

during the first half of the 1760s and his first works were published including a "Symphony" which was performed at the

Concert Spirituel The Concert Spirituel ( en, Spiritual Concert) was one of the first public concert series in existence. The concerts began in Paris in 1725 and ended in 1790. Later, concerts or series of concerts of the same name occurred in Paris, Vienna, Londo ...

on 5 April 1763. In 1764 he settled in

London London is the capital and largest city of England and the United Kingdom, with a population of just under 9 million. It stands on the River Thames in south-east England at the head of a estuary down to the North Sea, and has been a majo ...

where he was employed as

chamber music Chamber music is a form of classical music that is composed for a small group of instruments—traditionally a group that could fit in a palace chamber or a large room. Most broadly, it includes any art music that is performed by a small numb ...

ian to the

Duke of York and Albany Duke of York and Albany was a title of nobility in the Peerage of Great Britain. The title was created three times during the 18th century and was usually given to the second son of British monarchs. The predecessor titles in the English and Sc ...

and director of music to the

Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh Duke of Gloucester and Edinburgh () was a British title (after Gloucester and Edinburgh) in the Peerage of Great Britain; the sole creation carried with it the subsidiary title of Earl of Connaught. It existed for the brother of King George ...

. His first public appearance in London on 16 May 1764 was as an accompanist to

violin The violin, sometimes known as a ''fiddle'', is a wooden chordophone (string instrument) in the violin family. Most violins have a hollow wooden body. It is the smallest and thus highest-pitched instrument (soprano) in the family in regular ...

ist Marcella. He played solos at the eight-year-old Mozart's first public concert in London. He also participated in the

Bach Johann Sebastian Bach (28 July 1750) was a German composer and musician of the late Baroque period. He is known for his orchestral music such as the '' Brandenburg Concertos''; instrumental compositions such as the Cello Suites; keyboard w ...

Abel Abel ''Hábel''; ar, هابيل, Hābīl is a Biblical figure in the Book of Genesis within Abrahamic religions. He was the younger brother of Cain, and the younger son of Adam and Eve, the first couple in Biblical history. He was a shepher ...

Concerts which were very popular at that time. While in London he also composed numerous works for cello including the "Drei Sonaten für Violoncello und Basso continuo" (c. 1765). In the year 1780 he returned to his native Forlì to help his ailing brother at the Cathedral, though he played away from Forlì and in 1782 was principal cellist at the ''Teatro dei Fiorentini'' in

Naples Naples (; it, Napoli ; nap, Napule ), from grc, Νεάπολις, Neápolis, lit=new city. is the regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 909,048 within the city's adminis ...

. In 1787 he succeeded his brother as "maestro di cappella" at Forlì Cathedral. He died in

in 1808.

Selected works

* Three duos for violin and cello (Op. 1) * Six sonatas for cello and basso continuo for His Royal Highness The Duke Of Cumberland (Op. 3) * Six trio sonatas for two violins and basso continuo (Op. 4) * Three duos for flute and cello (Op. 7) * Eight duos for two cellos for His Most Serene Highness the Prince Of Brunswick (Op. 8) * Six duos for violin and cello (Op. 12) * Six cello concertos (Op. 14) * Six sonatas for cello and double bass for the Honorable William Ward (Op. 15) * Sonatas for Cello and Keyboard (Op. 16)

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Cirri, Giovanni Battista 1724 births 1808 deaths People from Forlì Italian composers Italian male composers Italian classical cellists